Recap of Olympic Action; Seven Minutes Of Hell Turns To Elation As Curiosity Makes Landfall; Indian Sikh Community Protest Temple Shooting In America; A Look At Video Game Addiction In South Korea

Aired August 6, 2012 - 08:00:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream whee news and technology meet. And we begin with a space breakthrough. It is mission accomplished for NASA's Curiosity voyage to Mars.

Also ahead, a repeat performance from the world's fastest man. Can any Olympic action today top this?

And a not so virtual reality. The growing problem of video game addiction. We'll look at the causes and the consequences.

Now NASA called it the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars. It was nicknamed the seven minutes of terror. And it ended in triumph.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown confirmed. (inaudible)

(CHEERING)

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LU STOUT: Scientists celebrated that success at mission control in California. As you can see, there were high fives and hugs all around, even a few tears as some people have worked on this project for the past eight years. And those plans all came down to this daring descent. It took a supersonic parachute to slow the one ton rover, but that alone would not be enough, then a rocket powered sky crane slowly lowered Curiosity to the surface of Mars. And all of this happened without any help from Earth.

Now for the next two years, Curiosity will roam the Red Planet. Its mission, to determine whether Mars ever supported life. Now the rover landed inside Gale Crater, the area may once have contained water. Now Curiosity will travel to the center of the crater to Mount Sharp. It's about 5 kilometers high. And those layers of rock provide a history of Mars back to its first billion years.

Now curiosity is already sent back a couple of images. And better pictures are expected later this week.

John Zarrella joins us now from the jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, California live. And John, what a night, take us back to the so- called seven minutes of terror, the landing process that gripped the entire world.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, you know, you just look right behind me and you can see the model there of Curiosity and how big it is -- 2,000 pounds, the size of a small car. And while NASA had tested all of those portions of the landing independently, they couldn't test it all together. So the test bed was the real thing, that seven minutes, hitting the atmosphere 13,000 miles an hour then maneuvering through the atmosphere, then the parachute deploys. Then the heat shield comes off. And then the back shell. And then the sky crane. And on and on and, Kristie, until they actually descended.

And at one point, all three of those tethers from the sky crane actually have to be cut at the exact same time. And if any one of these events that we just described had gone wrong, the entire mission would have been lost. So this was high drama, high anxiety, and something that had never been tested before.

LU STOUT: Yeah, high drama, high anxiety, and high achievement for NASA. What is the Curiosity mission mean for NASA? Is it a sign that, you know, despite shrinking budgets and the end of the U.S. space shuttle program, that there are more exciting ventures to come for the U.S. space program?

ZARRELLA: Well, it was huge. There was a lot riding on this. And the science team, the engineers, everybody at NASA was pretty upfront about it. The fact of the matter is that there are no big, big ticket flagship Mars missions on the horizon after this. This was the last one -- a couple of smaller missions. And had this gone wrong, the chances of other missions being added probably would have been slim to none.

The success getting on the ground. And now the real possibility that they can find evidence perhaps, the signatures that life might have existed at one time, on the planet surface, on Mars, that may go a long way to jump start Mars exploration once again.

And for the audience out there, it's important to know we will be getting some new very dramatic images later this morning, one taken from the Mars reconnaissance orbiter, which should show Curiosity on the end of the parachute as it descends through the atmosphere. And we may get a series of images just like we call the Apollo moon landings when we saw the Apollo landers coming down onto the surface, there's a descent camera on Curiosity that we understand has captured thousands of images as the vehicle descended through the atmosphere. We'll only get a few of them now, but they should be absolutely spectacular.

So, coming up later today more incredible images from the surface of Mars -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, it's incredible how much we've been able to see so far thanks to the NASA website. Of course the Mars Curiosity Twitter feed. We screened just then the black and white images of the Curiosity looking at its own shadow on Mars. And as you said, we're going to be getting some color images later, very exciting stuff.

Now this is the fourth rover that NASA has put on Mars. How does it compare with the previous projects?

ZARRELLA: You know, I wish we could show you the other ones. We had some -- just can't. But this rover, when you looked at the Sojourner rover, and I was here to cover that back in 1997, the Sojourner, the entire Sojourner rover is about that big, maybe that tall. It's about the size of the wheel of Curiosity, one of the six wheels.

So in 15 years, and one of the project scientists said, there is more complexity in one wheel on Curiosity than in all of the Sojourner rover, that tells you how far the space agency has come in 15 odd years in Mars research and in developing these incredible spacecraft.

LU STOUT: You know, it's incredible they landed this one ton rover on Mars, it landed safely. John Zarrella on the story for us. Thank you so much, John. Take care.

Now Curiosity, it may be far from home, but it is not alone. Now there's spirit, there's also Opportunity. They landed on Mars back in 2004 and they're still there. Now Spirit, it stopped communicating two years ago after getting stuck in sand, but Opportunity is still going strong. Its mission was only scheduled to last 90 Martian days. And there were also other orbiters circling the Red Plane. They include Odyssey, which sent back word of Curiosity's successful landing. It has been mapping Mars since 2002. And that makes it the longest working spacecraft ever sent there.

Now back on Planet Earth, the world's fastest man is the center of attention. Watched by an estimated 2 billion people worldwide, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, he successfully defended his Olympic 100 meter title on Sunday. He grabbed gold with an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds, crossing the finish line a good meter ahead of the field.

Now in tennis, Andy Murray is the man of the moment in Great Britain after he cruised to victory over Roger Federer in straight sets in the men's singles tennis final.

And Venus and Serena Williams, they won the women's double's title. And each sister now has a record four Olympic tennis gold medals.

Now today it is day 10 of competition at the Olympics. And for a look at what's coming up, let's get straight to Olympic park and our Zain Verjee is standing by -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. Well, we may be on Earth, but behind me there is still plenty of stars. And they're really doing some out of the world performances, OK, Kristie. Let me just give you an idea of what's on tap today. You've got women's boxing. This is a big deal, because it's the very first time women's boxing is going to happen in any Olympic games. So many eyes on that.

Then the men's 400 meter final will happen in a few hours from now in the stadium behind me. One man who will not be there will be Oscar Pistorius from South Africa. I was watching him yesterday night in the stadium where he failed to qualify for the final in the semis. But I mean, the crowd was just amazing. Everybody cheered so wildly for him. And even the winner of that heat exchanged name tags just to give him the kind of respect that he had even achieved the feat to go on that far.

Also a lot of attention today, Kristie, is on the women's pole vault. Now the Russian Yelena Isinbayeva is going for a third consecutive gold. This is going to be a really big deal if she gets it, OK. And she's looking in really good shape, because no female athlete in track and field has ever gotten three Olympic titles in one event back to back like this. So a lot of people are seeing if she can do it, if she can clinch it.

And finally for the U.S. they're hoping that Gabby Douglas, their star, the it girl gymnast, she's going to be performing on the uneven bars a couple of hours from now. And she's got some pretty tough challengers in Britain. Everyone here is cheering for Team GB. But also Russia and China are going to give her a run, or a vault for her money.

LU STOUT: Nice pun action there.

Zain Verjee reporting. And there's, what, 18 gold medals up for grabs. We'll check in with Zain a little bit later. Thank you Zain Verjee live from the Olympic venue.

We will have more from the games later in the show.

Now also ahead here on News Stream, reports that a high level Syria politician has defected to Jordan and what that means for the al-Assad regime as the violence intensifies in Aleppo.

Also ahead, Sikhs in India gather to protest a deadly shooting at a temple half a world away. We're getting new details about the suspect in the rampage.

Plus, Hong Kong's controversial plan to introduce a national curriculum in schools. Stay with us.

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LU STOUT: Now welcome back to New Stream. And you're looking at a visual rundown of all the stories in the show. And later, we'll be taking a special look at gaming addiction in South Korea, but now I want to look at the situation in Syria where there is turmoil on the ground and at the top reaches of the government.

Now as Syrian tanks and war planes continued to pound rebel held areas in the country's largest city of Aleppo, we're hearing reports of the highest level defection yet from the Bashar al-Assad regime. Now the Syrian opposition says Prime Minister Riyad Hijab fled the country overnight and arrived with his family in neighboring Jordan early on Monday. Now according to Syrian state run television the government says the premiere resigned his post.

Now meanwhile an explosion has rocked the headquarters of Syria's state-run television station in the heart of Damascus today. Several people are reported injured in the bombing.

Now let's get more now on the reported defection of the Syrian prime minister. Riyad Hijab was appointed to the post just two months ago. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins me now from Amman, Jordan. And Barbara, more on Syria's prime minister. Did he resign, did he defect? What do we know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, what I can tell you is a short while ago a Jordanian source confirmed to CNN that the prime minister Riyad Hijab has in fact defected, has arrived in Jordan today overnight with his family members. This is very sensitive here in Jordan right now. The opposition groups are already saying that other ministers have defected. But that has not yet been publicly confirmed.

Now the prime minister of Syria, as you say, have had the job for about two months. He's a former agriculture minister, a Ba'ath Party loyalist in Assad's regime, but also very interestingly, Kristie, the reports are that he was fired. Was he fired right before he defected or did he defect and was then fired? Nobody is publicly sorting this out just yet. But obviously left the country in some manner of secrecy to make it across the border here in Jordan.

So we're waiting here in Amman to get word on who else may be coming and an assessment fundamentally is this a crack in the Assad regime? Is this now -- are we beginning to now see that inner circle around Assad disintegrate. That's the assessment that everyone is looking for, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now Barbara, did your source there in Jordan reveal anything about why the prime minister defected? Was it out of disagreement with Bashar al-Assad or out of survival as many are saying Bashar al- Assad's days are numbered?

STARR: Well, perhaps, you know, perhaps a bit of both. These defectors, and we've seen more and more over the last weeks and months, haven't we, they -- they have a lot of different motivations: survival of themselves, their family members. One of the things, of course, is many of them try to get out with their entire families because they know if they leave family members behind those family members are at deadly risk inside Syria.

But by all accounts, when the opposition first announced that the prime minister was defecting, the account is he was fundamentally no longer supporting the Assad regime, whether it is duress, or a fundamental change of heart on his part remains to be scene. People are going to be looking to him to speak here in Jordan perhaps as soon as in the coming hours and hear from him directly, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, we'll be looking forward to that and your reporting on that. This is the highest profile defection yet. Barbara Starr reporting on the line from Jordan. Thank you.

Now let's get more reaction to the prime minister's reported defection. Mohammed Jamjoom joins me now from our bureau in Abu Dhabi. Mohammed, what are you hearing?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Well, Kristie, earlier there was a statement read by the spokesperson Mohammed el-Etri, the spokesperson for the former prime minister of Syria in which he said "I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime. And I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution."

Now this was a statement that was read on al-Jazeera television just a short while ago. And we're still waiting to find out if the former prime minister of Syria, who has defected, if he will be giving a press conference later in the day.

Also, we got reaction from the Syrian National Council, the president of the Syrian national council, Abdulbaset Sieda said "we we welcome the news of the defection of Dr. Riyad Hijab. And we consider the defection to be what is morally right and what is called for at this historic time. This is a killer and criminal regime. And at this historic moment, there should be no further hesitation. It is imperative to stand by the people of Syria now."

And Kristie, we're also hearing word, a lot of rumors out there that there might have been further defections, but we're waiting to confirm those until we hear more -- Kristie.

Now turning now to the United States and another deadly mass shooting, this time inside a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. The suspected gunmen has been named by law enforcement officials as former army soldier Wade Michael Cage. The 40 year old is suspected of killing six people and wounding three others before he was killed by police.

Now law enforcement source said earlier that he may have been a white supremacist. And while the exact motive in Sunday's shooting is still unclear, Sikhs in the United States have reported hundreds of bias related incidents since the September 11th attacks. They say they have been mistaken for Muslims because of their appearance, which includes beards and turbans.

Now India is the birthplace of the Sikh religion and there is outrage there with Prime Minister Singh condemning the attack.

Let's get more now from our Mallika Kapur. She joins us now live from Mumbai. Mallika, the Indian prime minister is himself a Sikh. How did he respond to this shooting attack?

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDNET: Well, he responded the way many ordinary Indians did today with a lot of grief, a lot of sadness and some bit of anger. You know there was a refrain throughout the country today that this should not have happened. A lot of solidarity for members of the Sikh community. A fair amount of anger as well, I have to say. There was a peace protest outside the embassy, the U.S. embassy. A couple of hundred Sikh people gathered there. A lot of them were chanting and shouting down America.

So it was a peaceful protest, but it did make their point clear. But a lot of sadness and a lot of grief today throughout the country expressed by the common man's spiritual leaders and of course by the prime minister himself.

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MANMOHAN SINGH, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's a very sad occasion, senseless killing of people who were gathered together in religious congregation. That it has happened, the very tragic circumstances is something which makes me enormously sad.

I hope the American authorities who investigate -- who are behind this dastardly attack on innocent devotees and that they will ensure that such costly events do not take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAPUR: ...that this never happens again, members of the Sikh faith are asking leaders for more protection to increase their safety not just for themselves, but also for their places of worship, because as you mentioned earlier, Kristie, sometimes Sikhs can be mistaken for Muslims as they have been in the United States.

It was shortly after the September 11 attacks in the United States that a Sikh person who owned a gas station in Arizona, he was gunned down by somebody who thought he was a Muslim. And this does happen as you mentioned earlier because of their appearance.

Now following their religion, Sikhs aren't allowed to cut their hair, so they have long beards and they wear turbans. And now Sikh people are saying, you know, this is an opportunity, a very sad opportunity, but the time is right to increase awareness so people do not get confused about their identity in the future.

They are asking for more safety.

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AVTAR SINGH MAKKAR, PREISDENT, APEX SIKH BODY (through translator): I appeal to the American government that legal action should be taken up immediately and ensure the safety of the people from the Sikh community. They should take adequate measures to ensure security at such religious places. I also request Prime Minister Singh mediate for the concerned authorities and ask them to take legal action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAPUR: Overall, a day of much sadness and grief throughout India and throughout the Sikh...

LU STOUT: All right, Mallika Kapur reporting for us. Thank you very much indeed for giving us the reaction there inside India to this very devastating event.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, back to school and back to basics, Hong Kong students might soon be getting lessons on Chinese national identity, but not everyone is happy with this new curriculum.

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LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now the Hong Kong government is planning to roll out a new curriculum when school starts here next month, but some say it may give a one-sided view of the Chinese mainland. Now Patricia Wu has more on the controversy.

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PATRICIA WU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Abbey Poon (ph) is packing her school bag with her parents. This seven year old and hundreds of thousands of students like her are at the center of a firestorm over what should be taught in Hong Kong schools about the Chinese government.

It's important to her father, Jacky, that she's given a balanced view of the mainland.

JACKY POON, FATHER: Because there's not only one side, not only positive side in China, we do know all we know this there's another negative side.

WU: Hong Kong wants to introduce a program of national education beginning in September with a three year pilot period. It's supposed to foster a sense of national identity, Chinese currently affairs, history and culture. Hong Kong is part of the mainland, but has a separate government and maintains freedom of speech and the press.

Tens of thousands of parents, students and teachers marched to the government headquarters to protest the national education plan. They carried signs reading "stop brain washing," and "mothers and fathers stand up against national education."

This booklet sparked the outrage. It was produced by a government funded organization and distributed to all schools. It praises Communism as selfless, progressive and united and criticizes democracies as bringing disaster to their countries.

The government official responsible for the national education program says the booklet was not commissioned by the government and is only for teacher reference.

CHEUNG KWOK-WAH, HONG KONG GOVERNMENT EDUCATION BUREAU: We want the parents to be -- to feel comfortable about this. The government would not prescribe a set of centralized teaching materials. We would work with schools on developing school based materials, then there won't be any brainwashing issue.

WU: Still, the government is committed to implementing the program on its three year timeline.

KWOK-WAH: Hong Kong being the most internationalized city in China we need to learn our place. We need to learn that Hong Kong is part of China as well as part of the international community.

WU: For 15-year-old Joshua Wong, that's the crux of the problem. He's read not only the booklet, but the government's 214 page curriculum guide.

JOSHUA WONG, PROTEST ORGANIZER (through translator): The current curriculum tells children that they must feel proud and patriotic as they look at the Chinese flag. I think this is ludicrous.

WU: Wong says they won't give up the fight. Protesters are even considering a boycott of the schools in September. They say Hong Kong's next generation is at stake.

Patricia Wu, CNN, Hong Kong.

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LU STOUT: Now the relationship between Hong Kong and China is an interesting one. As Patricia reported Hong Kong's status as a former British colony means it has its own laws and currency. Now China does have control over Hong Kong's defense, among other things, but for an example of Hong Kong's degree of autonomy, take a look at this -- Hong Kong has its own Olympic team. And you could see on the right, Hong Kong's Lee Wei-Sze who won a bronze in women's track cycling. And in a fitting nod to the territories past and present standing next to her are athletes from China and Great Britain.

Now coming up next here on News Stream, thrilling moments at the Olympics. Usain Bolt shows why he is called the world's fastest man, while Andy Murray makes a comeback from his Wimbledon loss. We'll have that and more Olympic action.

Also ahead, in South Korea being skilled at video games can earn you fame and fortune, but what happens when the virtual world takes over?

Jordanian officials say Syria's prime minister has defected to Jordan with his family. Now this would be the highest level defection yet from the Bashar al-Assad regime. Damascus says Prime Minister Riyad Hijab resigned.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army reportedly reportedly is preparing for an all-out assault on the city of Aleppo. Rebels say that they have come under intense shelling by government war planes. And Syrian state TV says there was an explosion at its building in Damascus. It's reporting a few injuries, but says it continues to broadcast.

NASA's jet propulsion lab was all cheers today as the U.S. spacecraft Curiosity successfully landed on Mars. Curiosity has been sending back pictures from the Red Planet. The unmanned rover will be roaming across the Martian surface for two years searching for signs of past life.

Usain Bolt has repeated as Olympic 100 meter champion. The Jamaican sprinter, he won the race in Olympic record 9.63 seconds, beating world champion Yohan Blake and 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlin in the process.

And I wanted to highlight a few amazing things about Bolt's victory. Now it was the fastest collective 100 meter race of all time. Seven of the eight competitors finished in under 10 seconds. And the only man who didn't, Jamaica's Asafa Powell who broke down with an injury and posted a time of just under 12 seconds, an astonishing result considering that he limped to the finish line.

And the race, it was so fast that the sixth place finisher would have won the gold at the 1992 Olympics.

And perhaps the most astonishing fact of all, bronze medalist Justin Gatlin posted his best ever time, silver medalist Yohan Blake equaled his best time. And one of the men who didn't match his best time, that would be the winner, Usain Bolt.

Now for more on Bolt's achievement and the rest of the Olympic headlines, let's cross over to London. Pedro Pinto joins us now with the latest. And Pedro, an incredible feat.

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Incredible for Bolt. What a night it was for Jamaica overall. The Caribbean nation celebrating their one-two finish in the men's 100 meter's final. And also celebrating the 50th anniversary of independence day. Here in London I can tell you Jamaicans partied all night long at their official headquarters. And our Atika Schubert was there to soak up all the atmosphere.

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ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An estimated 800,000 Jamaicans here in Britain. And it sounded like every single one of them was in this room when Usain Bolt won the gold with Yohan Blake right behind him. And in fact, it's not just about winning winning the gold, it's not just about sports, it's about Jamaica, 50 years of independence tomorrow, what a way to celebrate. And they can party all night long.

And I am just going to have to join them.

Atika Schubert, CNN, London, at the Jamaica House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINTO: Atika shaking it with the Jamaica fans.

Now as far as Bolt is concerned, he proved all his doubters wrong leading up to the 100 meters final, many sports commentators and former athletes were unsure whether he was in the right shape and right frame of mind to win gold.

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LINDFORD CHRISTIE, 1992 100M OLYMPIC CHAMPION: Nobody knew which Bolt was going to turn up. A fully fit Usain Bolt would have walked it, but because he'd been beaten in the Jamaican trials and a couple of times during the season by his training partner Blake nobody knew what was going to happen. And so he kept you on the edge of his seat with everyone -- he got everyone talking about him, and that was a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINTO: Usain stole most of the headlines on Sunday, but there were some other fantastic achievements. Andy Murray won gold for Great Britain in men's tennis. Just four weeks after losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, the Scot turned the tables and defeated the Swiss master in the gold medal match in men's singles at the All England Club.

Murray dominated the encounter, winning in straight sets, to become the first British man to win Olympic singles gold in 104 years.

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ANDY MURRAY, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: This is the greatest win of my career, that's for sure in terms of the way I played. It's definitely up there with one of my best performances. It's just different from the first match that we played all the way through to the last one. You know, the atmosphere was perfect and they got right behind us when we needed them to and gave us a big push as well when we needed it.

So it's been a great fun week and thanks to everyone that they came out to support me. It made a big difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINTO: Great victory for Andy Murray.

There are 18 gold medals up for grabs on Monday. Let's take a look at some of today's highlights. Yelena Isinbayeva will be aiming to win a third straight Olympic title in the women's pole vault. Her task was made slightly easier when world champion Fabiana Murer failed to qualify for the final.

Another event to look forward to in athletics will be the men's 400 meters final. No clear favorite there.

And the Dream Team will be in action in their final group game. Team USA will take on Argentina who have the top two scorers in the tournament, Luis Scola and Manu Ginobli.

And let me show you what the medals table looks like right now on day 10 of the Olympics. China are back on top. They overtook the United States after Sunday's events. Great Britain have solidified third position with a week to go just over half of the 302 golds have been handed out in London.

A lot more Olympic action later on CNN and on this show, but that's all from me for now. Back to you, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Pedro, thank you. Take care.

And while all eyes are on the track as Usain Bolt and his fellow competitors lined up to race, one spectator nearly upset what was billed as the showpiece event of the games. Now let's go back to Zain Verjee at Olympic Park for more on this story -- Zain.

VERJEE: Hi, Kristie, can you believe that that could have totally messed up the 100 meter men's final and a billion people around the world would have been totally outraged? But as it happened, thankfully, this one guy, this spectator who may have had a little bit too much to drink basically took a green plastic bottle and threw it at the starting line. Now the bottle actually ended up landing behind the starting blocks and a lot of the runners saying that they didn't even know anything had happened. There was one runner there that said he knew there was some kind of a distraction, but just kept focused on the race.

Now as luck would have it, this guy, Kristie, was sitting next to a world class judo champion, thank goodness for that, OK. Her name is Edith Bosch (ph). And she says he threw that bottle and in my emotion I hit him on the back with the flat of my hand, as she called it a push, but I mean, she's a bronze medalist in judo at the Olympics, so hopefully it was more than just a push because he really could have created a disaster. But she was upset. She said he made me miss the final. I'm sad about that. And then she also went on Twitter and said I've beaten him, unbelievable.

Now the officials have also spoken about this and said that this incident didn't actually affect the race itself and the athletes mostly didn't know. But, you know, one of the things, Kristie, that's front and center in these Olympics is the issue of security. Dan Rivers gives us a more detailed look at how security has been during the games.

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DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: The focus of Olympic security has understandably been terrorism, but the organizers have numerous contingency plans for other risks. An obvious concern is London's transport network. A power blackout or fire could cause massive disruption to the games.

This control room in South London is where buses, trains, cars, and London's tube network are monitored with the police and fire brigade also in the same room, all prepared for every eventuality.

MARK EVERS, TRANSPORT FOR LONDON: Whether that be a power cut, whether that be a signal failure, but ahead of the games we've done lots to ensure that we've done preventative maintenance so that the likelihood of those incidents are reduced as much as possible. If they do happen, we've got spare parts and forward maintenance teams in strategic locations around the network to get things resolved really quickly.

RIVERS: The great British weather has already tested the athletes and spectators, but it's also tested those planning for the worst. Floods could force the cancellation of some events.

SARAH JACKSON, MET WEATHER OFFICE: Obviously there would be disruption should something like that happen. And I'm sure that you can't -- you can't prevent the rain from falling, but you can manage the consequence of it.

RIVERS: The food supply to athletes and spectators is one area of concern. How can you prevent food poisoning from poor hygiene?

Melanie Patterson shows me a new rapid DNA test to isolate food bugs vital in the event of a food poisoning outbreak in the Olympic village.

MELANIE PATTERSON, FOOD SAFETY EXPERT LIFE TECHNOLOGIES: It's a test that looks for DNA for the bugs that might cause an illness, say salmonella or listeria for example. Most people in the past would test with culture, but this is much more sensitive and much quicker. A culture test would take four days to give you a negative result, this would give you the same result in just one day.

RIVERS: From up here you get a real sense of how vast London is and how complex contingency planning is on any ordinary day let alone when you add in a quarter of a million extra visitors for the Olympics. You get a real sense of how difficult it is to game play every scenario, but that's exactly what's happening.

The government's COBRA emergency committee has been meeting to talk through the risks and the contingency plans which everyone hopes will never be needed.

Dan Rivers, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Yeah, securing the games, its quite a feat, isn't it? Dan Rivers reporting there and Zain Verjee a little bit earlier. You're watching News Stream, and up next South Korea has some of the best video gamers in the world. And some are even able to spin their talents into a profitable career. But what happens to players when it turns into an addiction? We'll get that story up next on News Stream.

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LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now for some in South Korea, video gaming is a way of life, but in some instances it could take over their lives. Now gaming addiction is a growing problem there, prompting the government to pour millions of dollars into addict recovery programs.

Now the CNN.com team takes a closer look at the players who can't seem to get enough.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (subtitles): I have been gaming 19 hours a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (subtitles): I feel like the game is pulling me. It is pulling me back when I walk away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (subtitles): I feel like there is no reason to live, and there is nothing I can do. And sometimes I cry. And sometimes I want to kill myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 15 or 20 years ago. The most significant juvenile delinquency issue was sniffing what is the glue? I think internet addiction becomes the most significant issues in Korea particularly compared to other countries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (subtitle): I imagine the games appear while I'm watching the news. I even imagine seeing popular games when I'm walking around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (subtitle): If I'm forced to stop all of a sudden, I don't think I can do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: South Korea is a country flooded with digital games. It's the nation with the fastest internet access in the world. It's even got online gamers who are national celebrities and earn six figure salaries.

But at a time when professional gaming is receiving international attention, so is the topic of gaming addiction. In one extreme case in 2010, a South Korean couple was convicted of letting their baby starve to death while they spent hours online. The problem has grown so big the Korean government has injected millions into helping addicts.

How did it come to this? And how does the nation move forward? South Korea is searching for answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And this is just the first part of our series on gaming culture in South Korea. A professional gaming exists around the world, but nowhere is it bigger than perhaps in South Korea. The game of choice is StarCraft. Players play the role of generals directing futuristic armies against each other. It is a strategic game and also a fast moving one, meaning that it's got enough action to be good TV, but also enough depth to work as a sport. And yes, it is broadcast on television in South Korea. Some StarCraft players make a quarter of a million dollars every year, showing why many South Koreans want to follow in their footsteps.

Now tomorrow, a look at the different techniques that doctors are using to help gaming addicts. You can also watch the segments online at CNN.com/gaming.

Now the value of recycling: up next on News Stream, China looks at a new way to collect plastic bottles, but not everyone may benefit from the change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now China is home to 1.3 billion people. It's a population size that means that there's a lot of trash. Now with a growing environmental movement, there are plans to implement a new, easy to use ATM type system for collecting plastic bottles. But as Eunice Yoon shows us not everyone is happy about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is how bottles are recycled in China, yet if a local recycler gets its way, this is how plastic will be collected in the future. Incom has started a project to collect bottles directly from Chinese citizens, a move it hopes will tap the growing environmental movement here, but one some fear could put them out of work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If I can't collect bottles, then I'd have to go back to farming or working as a laborer.

YOON: China produces an estimated three million tons of bottles a year, many of them end up in landfills or discarded on the streets, left for informal collectors like Tien Guangyo (ph). The former fruit seller goes door to door earning one cent off of every six bottles.

Once collectors gather enough bottles, they bring them to stations around the city like this one. Here, the bottles are counted before they're taken away for recycling.

Incom says its program would help formalize the process, cut waste, and allow people to see the value of recycling themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In China, it's very hard to get bottles directly form the public. This is a convenient, efficient and easier way.

YOON: In August, it plans to install its first few machines at subway stations in Beijing.

It's a pretty simple concept. First, you just throw the bottle into the machine, press a button, and wait a couple of seconds and you get some subway credits on your card. The company hopes to have 2,000 of these machines across the city in three years time.

The bottles are scanned, crushed and sorted, similar to other machines around the world, but unlike in many other countries, these machines could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Recycling, a multi-billion dollar industry here, is seen as an important employer in this developing nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm worried if everyone brings bottles to the machines, then we won't be able to collect them.

YOON: To address those concerns, the company says it will collaborate with street collectors, hiring them to transport plastic containers or work at the factory. Some environmentalists say the payoff at the machines at one cent a bottle needs to be more competitive for the program to catch on.

But the company believes its priced fairly. And says the project could one day be replicated across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Through the panels and the ads on the machines, we will show people what true environmental action is.

YOON: A move, it thinks will only nurture the nation's budding recycling culture.

Eunice Yoon, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: We'll stay in China. And China is preparing for yet another typhoon. Mari Ramos joins us now with more from the world weather center. Mari, China's coast is just not getting a break here.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not getting a break at all. And unfortunately the remnants from the last storm cell, they're still affecting portions of southern China.

Let's go ahead and kind of recap a little bit as to what's been happening here. We're going to go ahead and go all the way back to July 29th. And that's when we had that storm kind of swirling around here the Philippines, you've had some very heavy rain that moved through there including some significant flooding and damage. That storm turned out to become Saola, and that one moved closer to Taiwan and moved as a typhoon for a little while and then made landfall in China as a tropical storm.

We also had Damrey. And this one moved across southern parts of Japan. It did become a typhoon and then made landfall as a tropical storm also across northern parts of China north of Shanghai. And it's going to be again in this middle area right over here in (inaudible) province where we again, Kristie, are going to be looking at the potential for yet another typhoon making landfall. We're talking about Haikui. That storm continues to make -- get closer and closer to this area.

The concern is that the ground is already so saturated, there are already people that have been stranded. I want to show you some pictures that we have of the aftermath of some of these other two storms. Look at that. Even though it stopped raining in many cases, the water is still extremely high. Cities look completely deserted in some cases as you can see from these pictures here. Water going easily through the first story of all of these homes and buildings, people stranded on rooftops, many of them unable to get clean food or water.

And some of them are trying to make a way out on their own or trying to go back to their homes and businesses to see what's left. And of course, the clean-up begins across many of these areas here.

Particularly concerned about areas to the south, because the rain has continued there. And those rescue efforts are ongoing across this region just as this new storm is approaching (inaudible). And already in those areas they're telling people go ahead and get out, because we're expecting more nasty weather.

And you can see it right over here as this storm continues to get closer and closer. State media reporting ports in this area have already begun to shut down, ordering fisherman back to port. And of course people in the lower lying areas that could be affected by the storm are already beginning to get moved out and evacuated of the way as the heavy rain and strong winds and even that storm surge, particularly of course along the coastline, could be a huge concern here.

So the storm itself right now has winds of 111 kilometers per hour, gusting closer to 140, but we are expecting it -- it's moving very, very slowly -- in the next day or so it could intensify to a typhoon, make landfall possibly as a weaker typhoon and then move inland, moving into a very densely populated area and the concern for more heavy rain remains.

When you look at the rainfall totals we're going to see easily maybe 25 centimeters of rain not out of the question and then some wraparound moisture also affecting portions of Taiwan, so that's going to be a huge concern.

There's another storm way over here, tropical storm 13 way out in the middle of the Pacific. That one not bothering anybody too much. That one has winds close to 80 kilometers per hour.

Your forecast is next.

LU STOUT: Hey, let's take a look at weather across Europe. We do have some nasty areas of weather that are moving across central Europe, including some strong storms right now moving across Switzerland and into Austria. Watch out for those. Some of those could be quite strong today.

Everybody else here across the west, just some scattered rain showers. And in the last few hours we started to see, you know with those live shots out of London how we're starting to get a little bit more in the way of cloud cover. And the temperatures starting to go down just a tad. Still not too bad, mostly cloudy skies, 19 degrees right now in London. We're not expecting anything significant as far as rainfall over the next 24 hours, but you could get some passing rain showers. And we're starting to see a little bit of that moving across the London area.

As far as the forecast for the next three days, today is going to be the higher chance for rain with about 60 percent chance to see some rain showers. And we've seen a few sprinkles here and there on and off, even though Tuesday cloudy skies are in the forecast, you're not going to see that bright blue sunshine. I think the chance for rain will start to go down as we head throughout the day, only about a 30 percent chance of rain.

And then on Wednesday, I think we should begin to see that return of the sunshine with a high close to 24 degrees there in London for the Olympics ceremonies.

Everybody else, I think, should remain a bit on the warm side. Look at these temperatures across eastern Europe: 31 in Budapest, 30 in Belgrade, and 36 in Athens. Starting to look -- see some warm temperatures also as we head farther to the south.

But Kristie, it is 20 degrees right now in Paris, and 20 in London. So not doing too bad at all. Back to you.

LU STOUT: Not at all. And it's nice to see a little bit of sunshine in your forecast just then. Mari Ramos, yeah, looking good. We'll take it. Thank you and take care.

Now earlier we spoke to John Zarrella about NASA's new Mars rover and he mentioned how big Curiosity is compared to past versions. Now let's bring up a side-by-side look at the last three generations. Now Sojourner is the small one right in the middle, that little itty-bitty thing. It landed on Mars 15 years ago. And that makes it one of a few successes.

Now NASA made this scorecard ahead of Curiosity's landing. And it shows the results of 39 missions targeting Mars. As you can see, 15 made it, but most failed.

Now let's update that scorecard with another win for Earth. And as for the U.S. alone, it now has 14 successes out of 19 attempts.

And that is News Stream. But the news continues at CNN. World Business today is next.